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Rocko's Modern Life Review/Transcript
(Cut to clip from "Wacky Deli") Announcer: 'Notice the texture of this meatloaf, and the pineapples give it a festive touch. '''Sal Ami: '*belches* 'Mr. Cheese: '''I am the cheese. I am the best character on the show. I am better than both the salami and the baloney combined. ''(Intro) ''Rocko's Modern Life ''is a show that I liked okay as a kid, but I '''love '''as an adult. And that's because it's not really a "kid's" show. I mean kids can watch it and I'm sure they might end up liking the characters, the situations, and the jokes. However, there are so many stories within the show that can only really be appreciated from the perspective of an adult. The show is about a wallaby, ''not a kangaroo'', named Rocko, and one of the most tumultuous times in anyone's life: when you first become an adult and you're out of school. It goes through the experiences of those first few years where you're living away from your parents, working an entry-level job, and trying to understand the ups and downs of an adult life, when no one really bothered to tell you the rules and just expected you to get it. Immediately. We do get plenty of stories with Rocko dealing with trash day or trying to see a baseball game or go camping, things you'll see in any typical cartoon, but sometimes when it picks a plotline, it throws in a nice dose of reality. Or a harsh dose of reality, depending on who you are. Rocko needs to hit a sale at a grocery store, like you see in many cartoons. However, in this cartoon, if Rocko doesn't make this sale, he won't have enough money to buy food to actually eat. This show is known for being over-the-top and weird, but in many episodes it can be depressingly down-to-earth. 'Rocko: '''But we're a team. Look at all the money we made. I will not fire my best friend! '''Mr. Smitty: '''Well then, if you're such a good team, I guess you should just stick together then, huh? YOU'RE BOTH FIRED! '''Rocko: '''Oh yeah? Well you're just a smoldering old toad! Rocko is often down on his luck and in a bad situation that many people are in. From losing their job and working on a phone sex hotline... '''Rocko: '''Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby. '''Bev Bighead: '''Rocko? '''Rocko: '...Mrs. Bighead? (Both hang up the phone) ...to getting hit on by your sex-starved neighbor. Now that I think of it, I don't think that this show was ''ever really meant for kids to begin with. The characters literally eat at "The Chokey Chicken." Don't look that up, kids. Joe Murray and his team were clearly able to put in whatever they wanted with this show, and it well, shows. Peaches: '...the TV from Heck!!! '''Heffer: '''Wait a minute..."Heck"? Isn't it supposed to be- '''Peaches: '*covers Heffer's mouth* Censors! The studio gave them notes, but let's just say that they "playfully" disregarded them. The network wanted the show to add in a female character with a hook. So what did they do? They introduced Dr. Hutchison as Filburt's love interest. She was a female character who literally had a hook. For a hand. This kind of freedom and attitude led to one of the smartest written shows that I've ever seen. As per the title, Rocko's Modern Life satirizes the modern world...the modern world of the nineties. Actually, even though this show was made in the nineties, it's amazing how many of the issues within still resonate to this day. They literally had an episode that was a clear metaphor for coming out as gay. '''Mr. Dupette: '''I had a funny feeling about you, Bighead. '''Ed Bighead: '''Uh...Mr. Dupette...I'm not sure I...understand what's going on here. '''Mr. Dupette: '''So, what are you into, hm? Birthdays? Barbecues? Bat mitzvahs? '''Ed Bighead: '''Well...well I don't-I don't know, I...I never...I never- '''Mr. Dupette: '''Don't tell me you haven't gone public yet. And it's impressive what they managed to get away with in this type of show. Keep in mind that this was a time when censors were not kind on any type of LGBT representation, ''especially in a kids' show. The people who complained about Rachel being trans in the revival movie that came out recently either did not remember ''Rocko's Modern Life correctly or they were talking out of their ass. Because Rocko's Modern Life ''had '''always '''dealt with adult topics, and that seems like one of the things that they absolutely would tackle. Since it is a topic that's more well-known and talked about in ''our ''modern life, as opposed to the modern life of the nineties. That being said, ''Rocko's Modern Life ''is not a perfect show. As an early nineties cartoon, there is a lot of grossout. Not as much as ''Ren & Stimpy, but, any grossout is far less forgivable here. At times it feels like it's throwing around boogers and spit because it doesn't wanna lose kids' attention. And I guess...that might be true. As I've stated, Rocko's Modern Life ''is a show that really isn't for kids. Kids might like it, I did okay as a kid myself, but there is some stuff here that they really would not appreciate. ''(Cut to Bev Bighead spiking Rocko's drink) 'Bev Bighead: '*sticks her finger in the glass and tastes it* *shudders in an aroused way* Beyond that though, one of the biggest problems with the show is Heffer. A lot of Nickelodeon shows, cartoons in general, have a specific problem where the main character's best friend is, for lack of a better word, an asshole. Patrick from ''Spongebob ''got this pretty bad, but '''this is the show where all of that started. Heffer is a fat slob who mooches off Rocko and does not benefit him in any way whatsoever. Watching anything to do with Heffer tends to be more painful than not. There is very little redeeming about him and you feel it watching the show. To this show's benefit, and what sets it apart from bad episodes of Spongebob, it actually knows how useless Heffer is. When Heffer abuses his power as a temporary security guard for instance, Rocko decides to leave him in jail at the end of the episode because he's been acting like an ass. Whereas in a bad episode of Spongebob, Patrick would be roaming around free and Squidward would be in jail for no reason. Heffer even has had some run-ins with hell. He always seems to be giving up his soul for something, whether it be going on a game show or for a soda. Filburt on the flip side, is okay. I didn't like him personally, but I didn't hate him. He never seemed like a third-wheel in the group of friends. Actually that's something that the show does better than its contemporaries. When Spongebob and Patrick get together in many episodes, they tend to "explode." Their antics and their shenanigans get more and more annoying. But when Filburt, Rocko, and Heffer get together, they tend to balance each other out quite well. It's watching Heffer alone where the biggest problems tend to come from. Like with Doug, you can see the genesis of a lot of modern cartoons with this one. Joe Murray would go on from this to make Camp Lazlo,'' which does retain some of the humor and character dynamics. Stephen Hillenburg also worked on a lot of the best episodes of this show. I'm not just bringing ''Spongebob ''up out of nowhere. This show clearly influenced it ['Caption: Also, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, co-creator of Phineas and Ferb']. Unlike ''Doug, which inspired shows to move so far beyond it that there's no reason to watch Doug ''anymore, there is plenty of reasons to watch ''Rocko's Modern Life. And that's its unique maturity. Even in the most ridiculous scenarios, Rocko's Modern Life ''manages to have some kind of...sanity about it, and stays mature when it needs to be. The Bigheads' life dynamics show some of their harsher drama that adults have to deal with. I wasn't exaggerating when I said that there is literally an episode where Bev Bighead is sexually starved and emotionally cheats on her husband. And of course, there's the Bigheads' relationship with Ralph, who later became Rachel. Their episodes happen to be some of the best of the series. It's a constant theme of trying to find yourself in a crazy, mixed-up world, and following your passions no matter what the world thinks. And even when you find happiness or contentment, that journey is not over. The episode "I Have No Son!" is about Ralph wanting to become a cartoonist despite their father's wishes. They do succeed in the end and make one of the most successful cartoons of all time: "The Bigheads." However, that gets them locked in contract that they try to get out of in "Wacky Deli," and "Wacky Deli" is probably the best episode of the entire series, for how it satirizes how cartoons are made. '''Rocko: '"Step 47 to Step 7212: Draw lots and lots of little pictures." This is a process that Murray really knows and cares about. He even wrote about a book about how to make a cartoon and...it goes into a lot of the production behind Rocko. And that book I do happily own. There is a little bit more to making a cartoon than just drawing a lot of little pictures, but let's say that yes, that is basically it on some level. Because I'm not planning to give this its own review, I guess I could bring up "Static Cling" here. It came out on Netflix in 2019 and I liked it for the most part. A Rocko ''revival, or at least special, was definitely warranted on some level. A lot of our modern world has changed since 1993, and the show does really do its best to satirize everything that's changed. I wish they didn't use literally all of it in the trailer ['Caption: Nothing else in the film is anything like the two minute sneak peek'] but, what can you do, animation trailers is a dead art. ''(Shows trailer for the widely panned animated movie "Bébé's Kids") Robin Harris: '''-babies! But, oh no! Oh no! Now we got Bébé's Kids! '''Announcer: It's animation! I liked most of it, although there are some things in that film that did bother me. The special was about Rocko returning to Earth after 25 years after he had turned his house into a spaceship, where he realizes that his favorite cartoon is no longer airing. In order to get the revival, he needs to get the original creator, Ralph Bighead, who has transitioned to Rachel. Like I said before, people who complained about this being in Rocko's Modern Life ''at all have...no idea what they're talking about. I like that they decided to tackle the issue of transphobia. Transitioning is something that I can definitely believe for this character, and it does keep the dynamic between Rachel and her father. It really does feel like being back in the nineties on some level. However...I do think that Rocko and his friends having absolutely no hang-ups about Rachel and accepting this immediately is...more than a touch unrealistic. While Mr. Bighead is figuratively in the nineties, Rocko and his friends are '''literally from the nineties and they haven't gotten any up-to-date news since they took off [Caption: Well more so, Rocko]. And let's just say that it wasn't exactly a friendly environment for trans people back in the nineties. I don't think that Rocko and his friends should have been transphobic, but, they should have been, maybe a bit more naive about the situation and not understood all of the politically correct terms. And there is a problem that I have with like, the story as a whole towards the end, and that's Rocko's reaction to the Bigheads having a kid. At the start he has typical "Angry Fan Syndrome," hating any sort of change. But you say like, two words to the guy and "Best show ever! I accept the change!" The ending is...more than a little bit rushed is what I'm saying. But other than those minor nitpicks, and in the grand scheme of things, they really are minor nitpicks of the overall product, I do think that it's a good revival that keeps the tone of the show. However, I don't know if I can recommend a good "entry point" for this one. "Wacky Deli" is the episode that everybody remembers, but that's not an episode you should watch first. It's not really about Rocko and considering his name is in the title of the show, ya might wanna start with a few "Rocko" episodes. Unlike most shows, Rocko's Modern Life ''actually did start off pretty good. It didn't take them a while for them to find their legs, so with this one I'd recommend starting right from the beginning and seeing what you like about it. I'd really only recommend watching the Netflix special after you've watched at least a good bit of the original show. While the special's fine in its own right, it's worth knowing who these characters are and their dynamics. It's not really a good "introduction" for ''Rocko's Modern Life. And this is a series that does deserve a good introduction. (End Credits Theme: Spelling Song from the episode "Zanzibar!") Category:Nick-o-Rama Category:Transcripts